Casa Del Sangre: A Grueling Horror Short Story
by Count Le MadPhantom
Summary: Goes with my other fics, thus contains my OCs. The Titans are in for a welldeserved vacation out in a rentedout mansion in the countryside. But will things go as planned...?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Teen Titans does not belong to me._

_**Casa Del Sangre—Part One**_

**Author's Introduction: This is a short story I'll be working on for a brief while, just to take a slight break from my main series of fics. (Though I'll be working on those as well.) It, like my other fics, contains OC's—three of them, to be exact. So unless you've read my other stuff, you wouldn't know what's going on here. If you have, then read on, and I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

The staccato taps of raindrops, pattering against the window of the T-Car, provided a lulling atmosphere in an already sleepy situation. They'd started out from the Tower at about noon after lunch… and here it was late at night and our intrepid heroes were still driving.

Cyborg, thankfully not a sleepy person by nature, managed to avoid falling asleep at the wheel, despite that fact that most of the car's other occupants were. In the seat next to him was Robin, reclined back on a pillow, snoring to himself although it couldn't be heard over the storm outside. His cape was thrown over his chest like a makeshift blanket, and his legs propped up (much to Cy's dismay) on the dashboard for comfort.

Starfire, Terra, and Raven were all asleep in the backseat; Star and Terra sort've half-laid over onto each other while Raven sat upright with her head against the cool window and her hood up, overshadowing her face. Cy knew she was asleep though, because she was breathing slowly and deeply, obviously out like a light…

A green dog about the size of a beagle was curled up between Terra and Raven, snoring and grunting to itself and occasionally kicking or scratching itself in sleep. Obviously, this was none other than Beast Boy. He seemed comfortable in his current position.

Cyborg jumped slightly as a streak of white lightning lit the atmosphere, producing a sharp crack like a wooden board being torn from a crate. He sighed heavily and wiped his forehead as he drove. What kept the storm from waking his friends was very much beyond him, but… they were sound sleepers; that was for sure.

Perhaps more so than that, they were exhausted. Anyone would be after being crammed into the T-Car for such a length of time.

'At least we'll have a good time when we get there…' Cyborg reasoned to himself, grinning slightly. 'We could really use a good vacation; everyone is so overworked…'

The Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, as though to answer him grimly...

'Hope this place is worth renting out… I mean, nobody uses it, but… I just hope it's in good shape and all.' Cyborg continued mentally.

Absentmindedly, he fumbled around on the dashboard for a small radio device. Taking it in his hand, he held it up to his mouth and whispered into it, so as to avoid waking his passengers… "Yo Smoke, everything still cool with you?"

… Smoke heard this over in his truck and picked up a radio on his dashboard that matched Cyborg's. "Yeah… real quiet over here." He said softly. "Everybody's asleep."

"Yeah, same here." Cyborg chuckled. "But can you blame 'em? We've been driving for hours…"

"Yup. Hey, when we get to this place, though… we'll be ready to enjoy some hard-earned free time." Smoke replied bracingly.

"Yeah… I heard that." Cy agreed.

Smoke paused. "… Hey Cy…"

"Yeah?"

"How much farther you reckon the house is?"

"Uh… Not sure. Lemme check the map…"

Cyborg reached out for the glove compartment, carefully avoiding Robin's outstretched legs, and opened it. He carefully removed the map after having searched through a bit, and tugged it out, unfolding it.

"Hmm… If I'm reading this right…" Cyborg said thoughtfully, focusing on the piece of paper in his hand. "We're only a couple minutes away…"

"Thank God for that!" Smoke sighed. "I'll be happy to get some good old R & R."

"Me too, Dawg…"

The two vehicles continued rolling lazily down the road, splashing noisily through puddles and mud… watched by a pair of black buzzards perched on an old disused telephone pole. One of them, its yellow eyes flickering, cawed loudly and pecked at the telephone pole a few times…

… Its partner mimicked it, pecking the telephone pole and flapping its ebony-toned wings… and then, giving the vehicles one last, mournful gaze, they flapped off into the night, disappearing into the inky blackness…

* * *

_**Seven Minutes Later…**_

Cyborg stared.

"No… way…"

He looked at the map and then back out the windshield.

A pause…

"…… No… way…"

He seemed at a loss for anything else.

Smoke, parked next to the T-Car, was thinking much along the lines of the same thing.

"… This can't be the right place…" He mumbled.

……….

The mansion before them wasn't even a mansion—it was a damned Castle.

The facade, peeling and cracked with faded gray paint, loomed out front with an old and dusty round window situated on center of its top and just above that, a huge balcony stretching out the entire front length of the house… its edges covered in precarious railing fashioned from hard, carved wood. Just below the round window and the balcony, beneath the front arch, was a pair of huge oaken double doors with heavy brass knockers fashioned into the likeness of grinning lions with fluffed manes and large teeth…

The building spread out from the façade on either side for what seemed like a quarter mile, every feet dotted by rusty square windows, with curtains drawn thickly over the interiors so as to hide the inside. On the far left side, the walls connected into a huge tower almost as tall as Titan's Tower itself—and it was topped by a massive clock, the face of which was covered by moss but still revealed its hands, numbers, and pendulum. A clock tower.

On the far right, was what looked to be a huge greenhouse of sorts, or an atrium perhaps. The surface was made entirely of an old iron framework covered in-between by filthy panes of glass that gave whatever was inside (it was too dark and rainy to tell) a warped, distorted shape… it was bizarre…

Overall, the entire thing seemed to be the dilapidated set of some over-the-top 1960's low-budget horror movie.

"… We're supposed to stay HERE? For… a week?" Smoke said numbly. "… We're screwed. Ghost's not going to so much as set foot in this place…"

"No…" Cyborg agreed grimly. "We're gonna have to drag 'im."

"Ah… maybe he'll go in if Raven will…" Smoke mused with a snicker. "… Should we wake them?"

"… Yeah… yeah, I guess…"

Cyborg went and woke up Robin, Starfire, Terra, Raven, and Beast Boy from their slumber whilst Smoke awoke Blackfire, Sub-Zero, Ghost, Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo, who had little trouble squeezing into Smoke's big Humvee.

Once everyone was out of the vehicle and fully awake, they seemed to have similar opinions…

"This place… is a dump!" Blackfire moaned. "We can't stay here…"

"Looks like the Adams Family Mansion on crack…" Terra oh-so-astutely observed.

"…… I do not understand friend Terra's Adam reference, but… I believe it is a negative comment, yes?" Starfire asked.

"…… You could say that." Raven said flatly.

Beast Boy yawned. "Well maybe… maybe it's not as bad inside as it looks outside."

"And maybe……… it's a five hundred foot tall piece of shit." Mammoth grunted.

"Heheheheh…" Gizmo giggled. "This place looks like a good hideout. It's sure out in the middle of nowhere."

"Hideout?" Zero said doubtfully. "…… I can't picture staying here… more than a few hours…"

"…… We're……" Ghost looked like a dead man walking, pardon the pun. "… going… in there…?"

"… Yes. Don't worry guys. It might be a little… uh… unkempt… but it's still a mansion, and it even has electricity—so Cyborg can plug up the game station and the TV." Robin assured.

… And so they set off warily towards the imposing double doors that greeted visitors to the enormous complex called Thorne Mansion. Thus called because the original family that had built and lived in the house'd had the surname, Thorne.

The gates were, despite their jagged and sturdy appearance, unlocked and easy to simply swing open, as they quickly found out. They walked in tentatively…

The courtyard outside looked like a forest: huge, densely-canopied trees with gnarled, thick limbs and roots formed a sort've natural wall around most of the courtyard, with a leafy cobblestone path serving as the small road to the front doors. Weeds and mushrooms covered the entire place, tipping them off to the fact that no one had been here in a very, very, very long time…

Finally they set up the dull gray concrete steps that led to the double doors, the stone worn and beaten up by weather as well as normal wear and tear. They were steep and difficult to climb, even to be so small.

Robin reached out carefully and knocked on the door, using the Lionhead-shaped knockers. The sound echoed and reverberated through the inner halls, audible even outside.

"… Hello…?" Robin called. "Is… anyone there?"

No answer. However…

… The door slowly swung inwards with a long, shrill, agonized creak… pitch-blackness awaited within.

Everyone stared.

"Well… I guess… I guess we just go in." Robin said, although even he was unnerved by what had just happened.

… They walked slowly into the doors and Robin managed to find a light swich, flipping it.

All at once they were blinded by the light… When their eyes had adjusted once more, they gasped.

"… So this is Thorne Mansion, huh?" Robin mumbled to himself.

They found themselves in a monstrous anteroom, lined on all sides with suits of armor along the walls. Down the center of the room, a thick red-velvet carpet was rolled out, thick with the dust of ages… golden tassel lined the edges, but they too had faded with time, rendering them more of a dun yellow color. A chandelier with electric light bulbs lit the room brightly, hanging in obvious view due to its sheer size. The red carpet led to a staircase that spiraled upwards to the upper floors, while the back wall had a row of simple wooden doors with brass knobs that led to lower rooms.

Beast Boy glanced over at a stuffed moose head on the wall, leering at the doorway. "… Uh… Can we go home now?"

"No." Sub-Zero said sternly.

There was a pause and then, his eyes fell on a huge fireplace on the left side of the spiral staircase, burning hotly with orange-red flames, like a Hellish furnace. Embers and sparks leapt from the live coals, and thin wisps of smoke, seeming to take on a shape of their own, drifted out…

"Actually…" He gulped. "… _CAN_ we go home now…?"

"No!" Robin repeated his earlier remark. "… We came here to enjoy a well-deserved vacation and that's what we're going to do. It'll be nice to get out of the Tower for a while, trust me."

"Yeah… I understand that… s'just that…" Smoke eyed the surroundings. "Well, couldn't we have stayed at a Holiday Inn or something?"

"Now you're just being cynical." Robin snapped.

"……." Smoke blinked. "… Huh?"

"Nevermind…" Robin groaned.

"… So… Where are we gonna sleep?" Raven asked, glancing around.

"Well, there's supposed to be bedrooms upstairs…" Robin started.

"If there's not enough, I can share with Ji—"

"There's plenty, Zero." Robin said exasperatedly.

"Darn…" He and Jinx murmured simultaneously.

"Anyway…" Robin continued. "There should be more than enough. I don't see why everybody can't just have a look around and take their pick."

"I need one with an electric plug for my charger." Cyborg said.

"I need to have one that's isolated…" Raven said.

"I need to have a room with… a night light…" Ghost gulped.

Raven reached up and patted his shoulder bracingly. "Don't worry. There's a full moon tonight, so you could just open the window…"

Unfortunately, this only succeeded in making him even shakier looking...

* * *

"This room looks good." Sub-Zero said, looking at the large window—good for letting in cool air in case of getting too warm. "What d'you think, Darling?" He asked Jinx.

"Looks all right to me." She said, nodding. "And it's got two beds and a bathroom."

They'd finally convinced Robin to let them share a room on the promise that they wouldn't, ah… keep anyone up…

"Who knows?" Jinx said. "This place might not be so bad. I actually kind've like it."

"I'll admit, it IS very, eh… majestic, isn't it?" Zero agreed. "I want to get a look inside that clock tower… I've never actually seen one before."

"Neither have I." Jinx admitted. "So we can go together, I guess." She yawned and peered out the window, out at the huge dome-shaped Greenhouse. "… I wonder what's growing in there?"

"A gaggle of weeds, I expect." Sub-Zero chuckled. "No one's been here in a while, from the looks of things."

"I want to go look around that, too." Jinx said absent mindedly while beginning to unpack her clothes—a bunch of identical black dresses with purple-pink frills and matching striped stockings and platform boots. Other than that, there were a few pairs of pajamas, some gray, some purple, and one pink set.

Sub-Zero nodded. "Sure. I don't see why not…" He reasoned as he removed his armor, sitting it with a clank on a wooden dresser. "Who knows? Between the clock tower, and the gardens… this place may grow on me yet." He said with a lopsided grin.

"You and your cheap jokes…" Jinx groaned, rolling her feline eyes. "… But then, I love you anyway." She paused, grabbing one of the gray pajama-suits and bundling it up in her arms. "I'm going to go ahead and get a bath… What are you going to do?"

"Well… I'm feeling a bit, eh… hungry. Maybe I'll go get some food out of Smoke's truck…"

* * *

Robin yawned, plopping down on the bed and groaning. How he was still tired after sleeping all that way here was beyond him, but… he was.

After putting a little thought into it, he'd decided no harm could come from allowing his friends to room in pairs… the only one left by himself being Cyborg, who planned to start charging—or sleeping, as he jokingly referred to it as—as soon as possible, after sleeping all that way. He'd had no trouble finding a room with electricity with which to plug in his equipment.

Other than that, the rooming was as follows: Robin with Starfire, Beast Boy with Terra, Cyborg alone, Raven with Ghost, Blackfire with Smoke, Jinx with Sub-Zero, and Gizmo with Mammoth… a good arrangement if he didn't say so himself.

"……" He was silent, a thousand or more thoughts running through his head. He didn't know why, but… he just had a funny feeling—a hunch, if you will—that something was amiss…

"Robin…? Robin, are you there?" A voice called from outside the doorway. It was Starfire.

"Yeah… come in. The door's open." He yawned in response, rolling over onto his back.

The knob turned slowly, and the door swung open with a barely audible creak, revealing Starfire carrying a couple bags—pink with floral patterns—of clothes, most of which were identical to the ones she usually wore, the only difference being a few light pink nightgowns.

"… This house is very fascinating." Starfire observed as she walked in. "It is certainly larger than the Tower, is it not?"

"It's big all right." Robin agreed. "Maybe once we've all had some sleep… we can start hooking up the TV and stuff, tomorrow morning."

"I am still amazed at the amount of things friend Smoke could fit into his vehicle…" Star said with a smile. "… I hope the ride was not uncomfortable on friend Mammoth. He **is** very, um… _voluminous_, after all…"

Robin couldn't help but snicker at that. "Hehe… yeah. He fit in a bunch of food, Zero's rum, the TV, the gamestation, everybody's baggage, and all his weapons and stuff… dunno why he brought them. We're on a vacation, not going to Vietnam."

"I believe perhaps it is an egotistical issue." Star observed. "… Smoke feels awkward without them."

"Yeah…" Robin said, but he couldn't manage anything more because he was overtaken by yet another huge yawn.

"… You are tired." Starfire said, more of a statement than a question.

Robin nodded, rolling onto his side and pulling the blankets over himself—he hadn't even bothered to change into his red pajamas, but he seemed tired enough to sleep in full uniform tonight.

Starfire smiled and patted his head rather like a dog. "Sleep well. I will retire to bed as well, shortly…"

Robin mumbled something in response and, within about a minute, starting letting out muffled snores, prompting a string of giggles from Starfire.

"Good night, Boy Wonder…"

* * *

"Beast Boy, you can't be serious… you're going to go wandering the halls by yourself?" Terra asked doubtfully.

"I can't help it… I slept the whole way here; I'm not even tired now…"

"I'm not tired either, but what if something happens to you?" Terra asked. "Old houses can be dangerous."

"I promise, I won't go far." Beast Boy said. "I just want to have a look around."

She opened her mouth to stop him, but when she turned around, he was already gone...

* * *

Sub-Zero shuddered as he walked out the door into the courtyard of the mansion, where the T-Car and Desperado were parked. Why he had a craving for ice cream and rum this time of the night, he had no idea… but he did. And there was a freezer of both in Smoke's truck with his name on it.

He drew his flowing cape around himself, shivering. It was cold tonight. Granted, he liked the cold, but… this wasn't normal… it was like… a different kind of cold. As though something in the very air was sapping away all the warmth for itself.

As the trees swayed back and forth, their leaves hissing and flicking in the wind, the knight ducked under several limbs, getting knocked in the head several times. The wind was unusually strong out tonight, and the howling of the wind through the trees was giving him the creeps…

Finally, he found Smoke's truck and opened up the door, shoving some stuff aside to get to the freezer. He smacked his lips and yanked open the top… flooding the entire truck with frigid air, which actually felt quite refreshing to him—unlike the strange… inner cold that filled Zero from the night air…

_'…… Join us…'_

Zero's head snapped up. He had distinctly heard an airy, wheezing voice…

"… Hel… Hello…?"

'_Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh…'. _Only the whistling of wind through the trees.

"…" Sub-Zero's crimson eyes darted about, straining for some sign of life in the darkened courtyard, looking for anything that might be moving between the swaying, writhing trees…

"Wind… just wind…" He muttered to himself, grabbing a brown bottle of rum and a small tub of French Vanilla ice cream and tucking it under his arm. He began walking slowly towards the front doors again…

_'Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjjoinuuuuuusss……shhhhhhh….Joooin usss…."_

He stopped dead in his tracks.

_'…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh…' _Just wind.

He began walking a bit faster now…

As he walked, everything seemed to warp in the darkness, the trees seeming more like giants brandishing staves… the cobblestone path seeming more like a giant, flat-bodied snake stretched out before him…

_'Sshhhh…One… of… ussss… One… of you… One in the sssaaame…'_

At that moment, the white hairs on the back of his neck rose up and even he, cold as he was, felt the blood seem to freeze in his veins.

He stood statue-still for a split second… and then, dropping his food, drew his blade and whipped around to face the night itself.

"… I… I know… I know you're there! Come out!…"

At that point he realized—it stopped. Everything. The trees stood still, upright in position, no longer being pushed by the wind. Even the wind itself had gone silent… the leaves on the ground, rather than being whipped around and blown about, lay there limply… the night had become silent as the grave…

He turned… and grabbing up his precious alcohol and frozen confections, started hauling pale ass towards the front doors.

He heard his own heart pounding in his chest, in his very ears, and felt his head throb with the force of it. He heard his boots tapping against the smooth cobblestone… he heard…

… The snapping of twigs and leaves behind him.

He didn't turn to look. He wanted to, but he didn't; he kept running… he gasped in breaths of air, suddenly no longer cold… but hot, thick, unbreathably humid air…

The snapping of twigs grew louder, sounding like someone snapping tree limbs… rustling and rhythmic tapping behind him, growing steadily more rapid, steadily louder…

… And the breathing… the breaths against his shoulder…

The crackling of leaves and weeds was behind him, a foot and a half behind him, drawing ever closer while blowing out hot air against his neck and shoulders, gasping and wheezing, and sighing out the grim syllables…

_'Join us. Join us. Join us. One… of… ussssss….'_

The next thing Zero knew… he… was slamming the door… slamming the doors to the house, locking it tightly and stumbling to the ground, gripping tightly on the bottle he held…

… He laid there… what felt like five or six minutes. Just… listening. Waiting. Trembling…

… Silence. Stillness.

Without thinking, he stumbled to his feet, shaking, and broke into a clumsy run down the hallway.

* * *

Jinx sighed contentedly, almost purring, as she sank down into the warm, bubbly, foaming waters of the tub. After spending so much time scrunched up into Zero's side while riding in Smoke's truck (which, although definitely not unpleasant, got uncomfortable after a long time) this was a big relief on her tired muscles.

The bathroom connected to her and Sub-Zero's room was remarkably clean and well-kept to have been unused for so long. It had a white porcelain toilet with an old-fashioned pullstring flusher, and a golden sink with pearl-encrusted handles marked '**H**' for hot water, and '**C**' for cold.

The tub was made of the same white porcelain as the toilet, but was much larger than any typical tub. It was about five feet deep, and about seven feet long. The legs it sat on were crafted and sculpted into the shape of elegant clawed talons, giving it a luxurious look. Though it had thick purple curtains surrounding it, she hadn't bothered with them—she was too occupied with admiring the bejeweled water faucet and handles.

For the longest time, she lay there stretched out, every inch of her slender body submerged in water except her head, just relaxing and half-asleep… her hair, taken down from its usual horn-like styling, hung loosely down her back in a fluffy pink mass.

Her felinesque eyes, tired and glassy, fluttered downwards… slowly closing… her vision blurring and dimming, as sleep began to slowly, but surely, overtake her…

….

…….

…………

….. The door slam in the next room—_their_ room.

She sat bolt upright in the water, gasping as her eyes snapped open.

… "… Hello?"

She heard shaking, uneven breathing in the next room…

Her voice caught in her throat. Was that… Sub-Zero…?

Slowly, she stood up, shivering as the air brushed against her bare body…. Reaching for a towel on a nearby shelf…

Once she'd wrapped it around herself, she stepped out of the tub, reaching nervously for the door knob. Her hand shook slightly as she heard the strained, hoarse breathing more and more clearly.

Her fingers clenched the knob, and she took a deep, shuddering breath as she turned it slowly… eventually she felt it click and lock in place, unable to turn further. She stood there, listening for a minute or so, the situation suddenly surreal.

… She yanked the door open.

There was Sub-Zero, all right. He was lying on his side, back facing her, on his bed with an empty bottle on the nightstand beside him, and a tub of ice cream in a small cooler in the corner. He was shaking violently all over, trembling and convulsing, and the whole time letting out deep shuddering gasps.

Jinx abruptly forgot she was wearing nothing more than a thin, sheer towel.

"… Zero…?"

He flinched as though someone had struck him in the back, and turned to look at her.

His face had always been extraordinarily pale. But now, it was… different. It had lost that slight tint of ruddiness and now seemed more like a white sheet. And she might have been mistaken, but… No… she was right.

Tiny clusters and clumps of frost were on his face, just underneath his crimson eyes. He had been… crying?

She hurried over and sat on the bed next to him, trying for several minutes to discover what was wrong, but… he seemed far too shaken to even say anything. Finally, she began running her hand through his hair and rubbing the backsides of his ears, trying to soothe him and lull him to sleep… she couldn't help but notice how… cold… he was. He was always cold obviously, but… now he was utterly clammy.

Sure enough, about five minutes later his breathing slowed and became deeper, more even, as he fell asleep and Jinx wrapped the sheets and blankets around him. And as she made a mental note to demand him tomorrow to explain what was wrong, she laid down next to him and pulled some of the sheets over herself, keeping one arm firmly around Sub-Zero's chest.

… She slept in a bath towel that night, but it was unlikely either of them noticed.

_**TO BE CONTINUED….**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans._

_**Casa Del Sangre—Part Two**_

* * *

"So I told Beast Boy not to go wandering off, but… he went anyway…"

"He's a guy. You actually expected him to listen?"

Blackfire and Terra were deep in conversation walking out the back door of the mansion where the pool was, according to the house description, located; Terra in a blue-one-piece and Blackfire in a black bikini.

"This place is so old…" Blackfire sniffed. "Don't you think the water is going to be… I dunno… nasty?"

"I guess we'll just have to find out…" Terra said. "…… You know… maybe we should talk to Robin about having a pool in the Tower. One of those indoor ones."

"Only if there are no windows." Blackfire said with a shudder. "The media would have a field day…"

"But then how would you let in fresh air and sunlight? You have to have windows…"

"Ok, but when pictures of you start showing up on the Internet, don't come crying to me…"

Terra didn't say anything for the next five minutes or so…

Finally, they came to a large wooden gate, rickety and unlocked. A large rusted padlock hung from it, but it was open, not fastened down. Apparently, whoever had been into there last had left it completely open…

"Do you think this is it?" Blackfire asked.

Terra shrugged. "There's only one way to find out…"

And with that, she reached out hesitantly and lightly pushed the gate, causing it to slowly push open with a long creak, shrill and shaky.

… There was a long, awkward pause…

"…… You go first…" Blackfire said quickly.

"No… You…" Terra argued.

"No, you!"

"This was _your_ idea!"

"_You_ opened the gate!"

There was a sharp crack and a pair of surprised yelps as said gate suddenly and inexplicably swung back inwards and painfully knocked both of them inside simultaneously… the damp half-rotted wood struck them in the back forcefully, and they rolled inwards several feet, down the slope of a hill at high speeds, and wound up in a very awkward position on the cold, rocky ground.

"_Oof_! Get… off of me…" Terra grunted, her air supply slightly cut off by the heavier girl on top of her.

"I can't! My leg is under your back…"

"I thought that was a tree limb…"

"Wait… hang on…… Got it! There…" Blackfire groaned, managing to untangle herself from the geomancer.

The two of them got up, a bit worse for the wear but still Ok, and tried to take stock of their surroundings... soon enough, they realized they were in the right place.

There was a massive, rectangular swimming pool the size of a large pond there in front of them, carved into pale green tiles along the ground. All around it were old umbrellas, tables, lounging chairs, and such; despite not having been in use for such a long time, it was… still… in surprisingly good condition. There were no traces of dirt or dust or leaves in the pool itself, and the chairs were neatly arranged in rows.

"… Well… this is it. But if this is the pool… where's the water?" Terra muttered crossly.

"Better yet, what the Hell just happened?" Blackfire demanded shakily. "Th-that gate just slammed on us!"

Terra hesitated. "… Maybe… it was the wind?"

"Sure… and I'm a Chinese cover-girl." Blackfire muttered, rolling her eyes.

Both of them were silent for a moment, at a loss as to how to explain the unexplainable… the gate seemed to have momentarily had… a life of its own… but that was impossible—wasn't it? … After much tense silence, Blackfire murmured that it must've just been a strong gust of wind and Terra silently nodded her agreement. Any other explanation was… well, let's not go there.

"Hey… what's that?" Terra said suddenly.

"Huh… what?"

"There's something on the wall over here… look…"

Terra motioned over to the wall that surrounded the pool, covered by thin vines of ivy and weeds… but there, between all the red brick and vegetation, there was a tiny glint of something else: something… rusted and metallic.

Blackfire reached to push some of the vines away but Terra grabbed her wrist.

"Wait a minute!" She stopped the Tamaranean from touching it. Instead, she grabbed a small stick lying on the ground and brushed it aside with that. "That's probably some sort of poison ivy… and with what it does to people from Earth, I'd hate to see what it does to an alien…"

"… Poison?" Blackfire asked, going pale.

"Eh… I'll explain later…" Terra said, brushing the unknown plant life back and revealing what was beneath. They both gasped in surprise.

There was a large, old-fashioned, iron hand-crank installed into the wall, with various pipes and gauges around it. On the far left of it, the word "**HOT**" was etched into a brass plate in the brick wall… on the opposite side, the word "**COLD**" was installed in the very same fashion; both of them were in old-English-like fancy lettering. And finally, the words, "Swimming Pool Water" were neatly painted onto the wall in chipped and fading black paint.

They looked at each other, grinning widely.

"I guess now we'll see if this old thing still works…" Terra said, rubbing her palms together.

The blonde grabbed the crank in both hands and tugged it fiercely, grunting and straining—in a rather embarrassing manner, causing Blackfire to sweatdrop—but to no avail; the crank remained completely and totally unmoved.

"…… Are you… Ok…?" Black asked slowly.

"… _Grr_… I think… _Ugh_… I've almost… got… it…_Grrrr_…"

Blackfire glanced bemusedly at the completely inanimate crank and back to the stick-like girl trying to turn it. With one, simple movement, she reached over and tapped the crank with one hand—thus, it immediately reacted to her Tamaranean strength, turning to the left, and taking Terra with it; she stumbled and fell down.

"… Well…" Terra seemed genuinely flustered. "… I loosened it up……"

Blackfire, snickering, rolled her eyes and began to retort, but… she was very abruptly cut off.

A subtle, but clearly audible, humming sound had filled the air, so soft but so deafening all at once.

Both girls froze…

The sound was augmented by a series of muffled, echoing clanks and clicks… old machinery sputtering and creaking to life. Then, after a full minute or so of this, there was a sudden outburst of wet splattering and hissing: the gurgling of running water; it was loud and clear.

The two of them ran over to the edge of the pool and looked down into the massive instillation. At either end of the pool, jutting forth from the greenish tile, were a pair of stone fountain-heads, carved into the appearance of Chinese-Dragon heads, both of them spraying forth water from their rocky maws; the pool plumbing, turned on by the crank, was now quickly filling it up with water.

But most astonishing was the fact that it was… clean. Completely and utterly clean and sparkling water that might have been taken from a wild spring.

"… Whoa…" Terra said, her mouth an awed 'o' shape.

"So it _DOES_ work!" Blackfire confirmed pleasedly, smacking her palm. "I figured it would."

"Cool! I love swimming pools." Terra said. "I guess Robin knew what he was doing when he picked this place out…"

"I dunno." Blackfire said. "… It… it's nice, but… it kinda gives me the creeps."

"…" Terra looked around at their dark woodland surroundings, the only path back to the house being the tiny cobblestone path through the old gate and back to it. "Yeah… I guess… it does, doesn't it?"

"…… Y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if Ghost freaks out while we're here." Blackfire chuckled to herself. "… Being the softy he is."

"You're right. At least he's got Raven around for protection…" She paused. "… I hope Beast Boy doesn't get hurt. I mean… old houses like this… they could fall apart at any moment. He could—"

"Stop worrying…" Blackfire insisted. "He'll be all right." She assured.

"Yeah…"

They sat down and waited for the pool to fill…

* * *

Raven stirred slightly in bed, muttering: "… You know, you could have used the other bed… if you wanted…"

Ghost, hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat, sighed heavily. "I know… it's just… I sleep so much better when all the blood rushes to my head."

"Just… don't fall." Raven said, wincing. "… I don't want you to get hurt…" She didn't say it, but she was having shudder-inducing visions of him falling and breaking his neck…

"I won't…" He yawned. "I sleep upside down all the time… and eat upside down… and… well… just hang upside down for the fun of it."

Raven sighed once again and covered her head with the bedsheets, groaning. Her head thumped lightly, not really enough to be called a headache but still just enough to be clearly noticeable.

"Are you all right?" Ghost asked softly from above her, looking down (his up) at her. "I'm not giving you a headache, am I? I can sleep on the bed…"

"No, no, it's… it's not you." Raven reassured him. "It's just that… I'm a little nervous… for some reason…" She said slowly, not really sure how else to phrase it.

"I'm not surprised…" Ghost said, arching an eyebrow. "This place is utterly unnerving…"

"You're right. There's something wrong with this place… I can feel it…"

"… What do you mean, exactly?" Ghost yawned back.

Raven paused, pulling the sheets over herself some more. "… Since we've gotten here… I… I don't know, it's just… I've felt like something's wrong. I get this… strange feeling like something's watching us. It's like… like a premonition or something…"

There was a long pause.

Ghost mumbled something about 'be better tomorrow', and yawned hugely again, displaying his pointed canines and spiky molars as his eyes grew heavy and closed slowly. He was obviously tired.

"… Good night…" He mumbled, looking ready to start snoring then and there. A pause… then… "…… _Oyasumi_, Raven… _aishiteru_… _Koishii_…"

… Snoring…

Raven blinked. "… I have no idea… what he just said…" She mused dryly to herself. "But then… I… kinda like the way he said it."

* * *

Terra took a deep breath, shifting her weight on the rickety looking diving board beneath her, trying to gauge its sturdiness. When she saw that it wasn't going to collapse on her, she took a couple steps back… bent over slightly… and broke into a run forward. She ran to the very edge of the thin, blue diving board and crouched momentarily before hurtling herself off the edge into the deep, pleasantly warm water below.

She spun into the air in a ball shape with a wide arc, and came down into the water with surprising force, creating a huge splash and dousing everything around; it was a huge splash for such a tiny girl.

Blackfire yelped and ducked behind an overturned lounge chair, but still got drenched by the deluge of H2O, laughing about it nonetheless.

She stood up and shook herself off a bit, walking over to the edge of the pool. "Ok, now that was cool! You really—"

She paused. Terra hadn't surfaced yet…

She waited a bit… waiting for the blonde to come up for air. Nothing happened… not so much as a bubble or a ripple broke the water's still, flat surface.

"… Terra…?"

She watched another moment, scanning the water for any signs of life, but… she saw nothing. And suddenly, she felt a cold chill run down her back.

"… Terra? Terra!"

She saw a few bubbles surface, and relief flooded over her as she realized her friend was coming back up. She began walking towards the edge of the pool to meet her…

… Something wrapped itself around her ankle and yanked, pulling her to the hard, cold tile with a cry and tugging violently.

She grabbed onto a deck chair, but to no avail; it simply got pulled along with her. She grabbed onto the side of the pool, gasping and trying to free her leg of whatever had it. But her wet fingers began to slip—inch by inch, squeaking slowly, they slipped across the tile with agonizingly slow steadiness, bringing her just a bit closer to the pool every moment.

Finally, with one despairing cry, she was yanked into the water itself and was lost under the surface, bubbles giving way to dead-calm…

…… For a full twenty seconds or so, absolutely nothing happened. The pool was still, calm; its surface was untroubled as the waters drifted slowly back and forth.

… Silence…

…….

……….. The water erupted in a sudden, miniature geyser, and Blackfire and Terra both came sputtering to the surface, Terra more so from laughter than lack of air.

"Got you, didn't I?" She teased the shaky Blackfire, whom she'd just dragged underwater.

"… You…… l-little… shit….." Blackfire huffed, although there was a trace of laughter in her voice as well.

Terra laughed harder and splashed her friend with water, but said alien splashed back, triggering what might be deemed an aquatic catfight…

* * *

Smoke yawned, tilting back in the wooden rocking chair in his room. His eyelids lowered with slight fatigue as he lazily ran a rag over the shining surface of his musket-like Siege Gun. Ever since the final battle with Mynull, he'd never used it again… with good reason; the bullets weren't cheap to make… but he still took enormous pride in it and carried it wherever he could—just in case.

He'd been rooming with Blackfire, but she'd, "gone out for some fresh air"… he wasn't exactly sure where. But he kinda hoped she'd be back soon. Even though she'd only been away from the room an hour or so, he already missed her.

Thus he was doing his best to keep his mind off her absence by occupying himself otherwise.

Looking up through its fine, powerful scope, he scanned the dimmed landscape around the mansion—not a problem due to its built-in nightvision.

Let's see… trees… trees… more trees… gates… Clock tower… walls… gates again… leaves… Blackfire in a soaking wet jet-dark bikini… some tall weeds… a boulder… some—

… Wait… What the…?

The gun fell from his hands with a clatter. Very luckily it wasn't loaded, or someone a few floors down woulda been dead… or from the way he was drooling, drowned…

* * *

Blackfire and Terra splashed around, just generally relaxing in the warm waters and enjoying themselves… though Blackfire was doing most of the splashing around and diving, whereas Terra was more just lying back on the steps leading into and out of the pool.

… In their merriment, neither of them seemed to notice the door of the nearby pool shed silently swinging open; it was not moved with the slow jerkiness of the wind, nor the quick yank of a small animal running past it…

… Rather it calmly and fluidly pulled itself open, as naturally as if someone, or something, had simply grasped the knob and pulled.

Slowly, a small bundle of rusty chains and frayed ropes slithered their way out, clanking and hissing softly against the tile flooring, but this noise was muted by the laughing and splashing about nearby.

… They made their way across the ground, side winding like slender serpents of metal and twine… even lifting up their tips and 'sniffing' at the air, and rapidly shaking their back ends like bizarre rattlers, making a loud clanging with the chains.

Terra's head, having been relaxing on the surface of the water the last few minutes, suddenly snapped upwards.

"… What was that?"

Blackfire stopped swimming about and treaded water for a moment, cocking her head at the small blonde with a quizzical expression. "… What was what?"

"… I… thought I heard something, there…"

They paused.

… Only the soft running water and chirping of the night crickets.

"… Never mind. Sorry. Just my ears playing tricks…" Terra said, rubbing her temples and shaking her head lightly.

Blackfire shrugged and dove under water again, not thinking anything of it.

… The chains and ropes, shivering and twitching, began inching forward like snails…

Terra sighed, lying on her back on top of the water, and floating belly-up, staring at the dark, cloudy sky. … You couldn't even see the stars tonight. It was eerie. The rain had brought the clouds, probably, but… it had stopped raining long ago. And the clouds were still here, making the sky dark and bare, like burnt sackcloth stretched over the earth itself.

She sighed closing her eyes… it didn't make much difference. The sky was just as dark as the insides of her eyelids. Her mouth opened in a long, tired yawn…

… And something cold and metal snaked into her mouth whilst a stringy cord wrapped around her throat. Her eyes snapped open, but before she could so much as scream her throat was tightened and cut off, and she was yanked under…

… Hearing a splash, Blackfire turned and stared.

Where Terra had been floating seconds ago, there was a large ripple and a bubbling spot.

She stared. "… Terra… What the…?" Her eyes narrowed. "Nah. You're not getting me this time. You can fool me once, you can fool me twice… sometimes… you can… fool me a third time, but… after that I start catching on. I'm not falling for another trick, Blondie." She teased.

… Nothing more happened… and before long, she was grabbed by the ankles as well. She gasped and looked down, but she was yanked under before she saw anything.

Blackfire thrashed around, the deafening, yet strangely muffled roaring of water in her ears. She opened her eyes to glare angrily at the Geomancer for pulling her under, but…

… Terra wasn't under her. Terra was in front of her, thrashing around but held by… chains? Her mouth held open by chains in a silent scream, and a rope noosed around her neck.

Blackfire looked down, her vision swirling with the surrealism of the situation. Her feet where held by chains wrapped around her ankles, just like the ones holding Terra.

With a bubble-producing grunt, she snapped the chains and swam towards her friend, grabbing her around the waist and tearing the chains and ropes from her, pulling her free. She took her under the arm and pulled her up to the surface whilst the animate bonds writhed at the bottom of the pool.

… Their heads broke the surface of the water with one, collective gasp, Blackfire hefting Terra over to the steps of the pool and sitting her down.

She hacked softly, choking on the water she'd swallowed as Blackfire lightly pounded on her back, trying to get it out and wincing every time Terra took in a shaky, gurgling gasp of breath, usually coughing horribly in the process.

"… What the… the Hell was that?" Terra gasped, trembling.

Blackfire looked around. "I… I don't… know…"

She felt something wrapping around her legs again, and cried out, trashing furiously.

"**GET _OFF_ OF ME**!" She screamed, grabbing it in her hands and snapping it off as before.

Terra grabbed her hand and pulled her out, both of them backing up from the pool and staring wide-eyed.

… There, in the middle of the water, things began to… stir. The waters started twirling slowly, in a constant circle. Within seconds, they began to speed up… the foaming vortex becoming larger and faster, more powerful by the second until a full-fledged whirlpool had formed in front of their very eyes, frothing and hissing, spewing foam and bubbles from its funnel-shaped center while dousing the whole area with water.

With a sound like a cannon being fired, a geyser of water fired up from the center of the pool—and there was something else with it. Something… huge…

Both girls yelped and fell to the ground, knocked backwards by the sheer force of it. As the water faded and the noise died down, they opened their eyes slowly…

… Terra screamed. Blackfire swooned on the spot, opening and closing her mouth as though trying to scream but unable…

There before them was a massive… coiled… _thing_… serpentine in nature and sporting a large, gnarled maw. Its slimy body composed mainly from ropes and old chains, but now wires and such had joined in, giving off electric sparks and causing the water to crackle and hum with a shining electrical charge.

"… _X'hal_… what… what _is_ that?" Blackfire managed to moan slowly, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

It snapped its head towards her and opened its maw, letting forth a flood of bizarre green slime along with a screeching cry. The stench alone almost knocked them over…

"… I don't know…" Terra sputtered, still choking a bit on water. "But… it doesn't look friendly…"

It vomited up more greenish bile and slime as it roared again, turning the electrified waters around it a polluted shade of green… Then, with a shuddering movement, it lunged for them.

Blackfire grabbed Terra by the arm just in time to fly to the side and leave the monstrosity slamming into the ground, sending chunks of tile and cement flying in all directions, and upending several nearby tables and chairs.

It yanked itself from the ground and shrieked again, this time spitting out copious amounts of what looked like sticky, red blood…. Although it didn't actually seem harmed; maybe it was the blood of whatever wild animal it had eaten last or something…

Blackfire hurled an energy bolt, a violet flash of lightning fire that sizzled through the air and impacted the strange creature at full force. A small chunk of its body exploded messily, spraying green goop in an arc from the wound. It howled in pain, but seemed to be more angered than injured. A few sparking wires extended from its body, and lashed outwards like giant whips, about to split the girls in two.

Terra threw up her hands reflexively, a brilliant golden shine suddenly filling her eyes, and a large boulder uprooted itself from the woods nearby and acted as an effective shield against the monster's tentacles… she followed up by hurling the boulder at it, mashing it against the monster's head and causing the beast to fall backwards back into the water…

"… Come on!" Blackfire shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell me twice…" Terra groaned, following the alien as she broke into a run towards the gate that led back to the house.

They made their way up the hill to the gates, careful but still hasty. Blackfire grabbed onto the gates, but when she pulled… nothing happened…

… The gates clanked and popped, but went nowhere.

They were locked in the area.

"This… is… **_IMPOSSIBLE_**!" Blackfire screamed, eyes blazing. "It wasn't locked when we came in."

Terra seemed to be reacting differently to the situation. Rather than furious, she seemed terrified. Pale and shaky, she had to lean on a tree to steady herself.

"… It… it's not gonna let us leave…" She moaned softly, her voice barely audible.

"What?" Blackfire said sharply, turning to her.

"… It's not going to let us leave! We're trapped! It… it's alive! The gate slammed on us earlier… and now this! This… this whole place is alive or something! We're… going to die here…" She kept moaning, getting progressively more panicked.

Blackfire grabbed her lightly by the shoulders and gently shook her. "No. We're not trapped, and we're not going to die. Just… calm down… we got away from that thing, didn't we?"

… The answer was no, whether they realized it or not.

A pair of ropes snaked themselves around Blackfire and yanked her to her gut on the ground with a gasp. And then, she was gone, the things dragging her at high speed back towards the pool at high speed. Terra was not far behind as a string of chains slithered from a bush and grabbed her by the neck, yanking her forward along her stomach like a dog on a leash.

They screamed, being yanked all the way back down to the pool where the creature was waiting for them… growling, dripping blood and bile from its awful mouth. It opened its mouth and snarled loudly, giving off a stench that would have put a stinkbug in a coma…

It held them up in front of its face like a pair of hams, as if trying to decide which one looked juicier and tastier.

… Blackfire blasted it with a pair of eyebeams, but to no avail… it didn't seem to have much effect beyond angering it. The violet beams, even as they blew chunks of flesh from its body, were little more than annoyances.

The Tamaranean and the Geomancer trembled, realizing that this thing was too powerful to fight on their own…

It hefted Blackfire up above its mouth, opening up and extending a bundle of wires as though to function as a tongue of sorts… Blackfire moaned as she felt its hot breath burn at her feet…

And as she felt it growing closer, felt herself being lowered down… she tensed up, squeezing her eyes shut… it was over…

……… **_BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM_**!

… Half of the monster's head abruptly exploded in a shower of blood and sparks.

"Hey, Ugly… get your damned dirty hands off our women."

Blackfire and Terra's eyes snapped open simultaneously… and at that moment, a huge green blur leapt through the air and severed the tentacle that held Terra, grabbing her up in the process—a large green tiger. It bounded over with her next to where another was standing.

… Smoke.

The gunman hefted his siege gun and blasted off a barrage of rounds, obliterating the limb that had Blackfire… who quickly took the opportunity to fly down to where Smoke and Beast Boy were.

"Smoke…? Smoke!" Blackfire threw her arms around him, heart pounding. "… How… how did you…?"

"Me and Beast Boy here heard weird noises… decided to come check it out. I stuck some C4 on the gate to loosen 'er up and Beast Boy tackled it down as an elephant." Smoke said, cocking his gun. "And a good thing we did."

The tiger had, by this time, morphed back into Beast Boy who was currently hugging Terra. "We heard screaming and explosions. We thought… you might be in trouble."

"We were…" Terra said. "But… now we all are…"

The creature, regaining its senses, roared loudly and extended itself from the water once more.

Blackfire charged up an energy bolt in her hands while Smoke fed another clip into his gun.

Smoke's eyes narrowed. "Remind me to tell Robin… never to let him plan a vacation again."

Terra nodded. "After we kill this thing… we've GOT to get out of here…"

* * *

Robin stared in disbelief at the letter in his shaking hands.

Starfire had woken him up and brought it to his attention just minutes ago… she said she'd found it lying on the sink in their bathroom… and nobody besides the two of them had come in or out in hours…

Made of thick parchment paper, it was scrawled on by faded red writing in a fancy, cursive hand…

_Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen…_

_I trust you are enjoying your stay within the walls of my humble abode? I should hope so. You won't be leaving just yet. I find you mortals and your ilk quite amusing, you see, and I hunger for something you all have…_

_… Fresh… clean… utterly delicious souls…_

_A word of caution: I advise you to go to the swimming pool immediately. I believe a few of your friends are in quite a pickle. You may wish to help them…_

_Enjoy the rest of your stay, because it will encompass the rest of your natural life—which may or may not be all that long…_

_Sincerely…_

_Ezekiel Beauregard Thorne_

**_TO BE CONTINUED…_**


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans_

**_Casa Del Sangre—Part Three_**

I awoke suddenly with a blink, suddenly panicked—although my face, calm and indifferent, didn't show it—and anxious for no apparent reason. It took me a moment to recall where I was, and what I was doing.

The trip to this boring old mansion, apparently, was not a dream—or should I say nightmare?—like I had hoped. I looked around, and saw the dim room around me, the thick bed sheets gathered at my waist, and… as I looked up, there was Ghost hanging above me, sound asleep in his bat-like upside down posture. Silent, airy snores seemed to be coming from his tanned lips, and his black hair hung down in his face, obscuring all but his monocle, which gleamed with the moonlight from a nearby window.

… I was unsure why I felt so uncomfortable, even afraid. Something was wrong, I knew, but… I had no idea what.

"Ghost…. Ghost…!" I whispered. I stood up in bed, shaking the sheets off myself and grabbed him by his coat collar. "Ghost… wake up!"

He yawned, baring his sharpened canines and spike-like molars, and mumbled something incoherent; he then resumed snoring silently.

"Ghost…. Ghost?" I tried shaking him a little, but this had no perceivable effect. Growing frustrated, I gave one desperate yank in an effort to jar him out of his dozing state; I pulled against the corner of his coat as hard as I could.

_… Creeee-aaak. Crr-ack!_

The weathered wooden beam on the ceiling, which Ghost's sandaled feet had been perched to, gave way with a splintering crash; it snapped cleanly and hung in an awkward position… causing Ghost to fall like a dropped brick, and land on me in a rather compromising position—still sound asleep, with his head wedged firmly between… well, never mind.

I contained the impulse to curse, but… mainly only because my tongue seemed to have gone numb… along with the rest of me. I started struggling to get myself freed from the awkward spot, and only managed to roll off the bed with a gasp.

… The bed sheet, wrapped around one of my ankles, caught a chain on his coat and pulled him over on top of me, much like before; thus, knocking the wind out of me and prompting a string of mental obscenities.

He continued snoring obliviously…

… At this point, no longer really caring and wanting to go back to sleep—the feelings of urgency and worry that had awakened me having been replaced by frustration and embarrassment—I groaned and laid my head back down, giving up the futile struggle to wake Ghost up.

At this point, Robin suddenly opened the door, pale-faced and panicked looking. Before I could say anything to defend myself in my current position… the door creaked ever so slightly, softly…

Instantly, Ghost shot up into the air and flapped frantically for a moment before settling upside down again on another beam. "What? Huh? Who, where?" He yelped.

"………" I groaned and rolled over, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over my head exasperatedly.

Robin seemed not to even notice anything that had happened. "Guys! Guys, come on! They're in trouble; we gotta help them!" He said, tossing my cloak to me and handing Ghost his katana off a nearby table.

I blinked, my initial anxiousness resurfacing. "… Who? Who's in trouble?"

"Terra, Blackfire!" He answered impatiently. "And at this point, probably Beast Boy and Smoke, too! Come on! Help me wake everybody else up!" He cried, running back out the door.

Ghost, alarmed as Robin by the news his friends were in danger, hopped down to the ground and adjusted his monocle. "Raven, did you hear? Come, we must—" He suddenly stopped, looking at me as though worried. "… Dear… why are you in the floor…?"

"……." I began wordlessly bumping my forehead against the oak floorboards; my left eye twitching erratically as a lamp on the nightstand exploded in a tuft of flickering black sparks…

* * *

Sub-Zero groaned in his sleep. The voices that had tormented him earlier still rang in his ears, with terrifying clarity. Those raspy voices, airy and distant, yet right in his ear…

… Join us. One of us…

What did they mean? What did they want?

With another moan, he shifted and clung to—something. Whatever was next to him. … It was slender, and soft, and he took it for a large pillow at first; it wasn't until the object in question moved in his grasp and put a pair of pale, slender arms around his neck that he remembered where he was.

His eyes snapped open with a jerk of the head; crimson orbs darting around the room alertly.

Sure enough, there was Jinx sound asleep with him in her embrace, her head laid onto his shoulder and her arms around his neck. The candlelight from a candle lamp on the night stand reflected from her grayish skin, making it look unusually pale. His own skin, paler even than hers, looked positively white under the light…

Zero yawned silently, and decided to go back to sleep… do his best to ignore the memory of what had happened until tomorrow, when he could sort this all out.

… A sudden knock at the door. Zero sat up reflexively, blinking. The sudden movement must have awoken Jinx too, because she suddenly opened her eyes, feline-like and luminous in the dimmed room, and looked around.

"Who's there…?" Zero called out softly.

"It's me, Robin!" The Boy Wonder called from the other side of the door. "Look, there's trouble! Get your stuff; come outside as quick as you can. Terra and Blackfire, Smoke and B.B., are all in trouble; we have to help them, before—"

He opened the door and stared, trailing off mid-sentence.

… Jinx, clad in only a towel, and Zero, sharing the same bed.

"…… Uh… I'm not interrupting anything…?"

They stared for a moment, both of them still too drowsy to realize the awkward state of things… but once Jinx realized what he was referring to, she leapt to her feet like a scalded cat.

"No! Of course not, I mean—"

"Never mind." Robin sighed. "Explain later; just… hurry! We have to help our friends!"

With that, he was gone; he shut the door firmly behind himself.

"…." Jinx groaned and rubbed her temples, before looking over at Zero. "… Sub-Zero……"

"… Hm?" He asked, getting up and getting his sword from the table.

"… What happened to you?" She demanded suddenly. "What was wrong earlier? You came in and wouldn't speak to me! Something was wrong; you were shaking, and—"

"I know…" he said gently, taking one of her hands and gripping it softly. "I'll explain after we get this taken care of; I'm all right now. I just… had kind of a scare, is all."

An awkward pause.

"… Well… shall we go help them out?"

"… Right…"

* * *

"Hope you're hungry, Bitch! Eat .50-caliber bullets! EAT IT!"

**BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!**

"Smoke, I don't think it's working…"

"Of course it's not."

"… Then why are you doing it?"

"Just venting some stress."

After groaning at her significant other's semi-insane rationale, Blackfire charged up a lit energy bomb in her fist, and hurled off a few shots of her own, though they had arguably less effect than Smoke's bullets, sinking harmlessly into the monster's unnatural hide.

The serpentine creature in the water squealed shrilly, and started slithering out of the pool towards them, opening up it's bizarre, gaping hole of a maw in a bloodcurdling sound that was a cross between a screech and a gurgle; sparking wires and rusty chains, like what made up its strange body, dangled from its mouth like prehensile tongues.

In a sudden, snakelike strike, it lashed forward towards them with slime oozing from its jaws and stagnant green water dripping off its weird skin. Coming at them like a missile, it was only thanks to a rolling boulder—courtesy of Terra—that they weren't eaten alive, as the huge spherical stone tumbled into the monster's opened mouth and shattered in a cloud of sand and debris, giving them time to run.

B.B. and Terra took no time in the opportunity to retreat, and Blackfire started to hover off as well… but Smoke, rather than running, started walking backwards, firing off blasts from his siege rifle as he went; the massive bullets, like metallic sausages, blew holes in its skin that gushed goo and boiling black blood.

Blackfire flew back and grabbed Smoke's arm. "Come on!"

He shook his head. "We got it on the ropes; we have to keep—"

He was interrupted suddenly when the monster, shaking off the daze from the boulder attack, reared back, ignoring its squirting wounds, and opened its mouth again. A torrent, like a horizontal geyser, of bizarre, boiling goop—rancid and smelling of steam and brimstone—erupted forth in a powerful spray.

Blackfire, ignoring Smoke's protests, grabbed him up in her arms and flew off just in time to avoid the tidal wave of steaming, scalding acid-sludge.

"Dammit, let me back down there!" Smoke barked. "I coulda had it!"

"You _could_ have been turned into boiling slag!" Blackfire replied scathingly. Her expression suddenly softened. "Don't do crap like that; you could have been killed!"

"I've had worse." Smoke huffed. And after all, it was true…

They ascended rapidly, soaring above the dark woods around the house and looking down on the small trail they'd come in on; before long, they could make out the forms of B.B. and Terra—Terra riding B.B., who was in cheetah form—hauling ass back towards the house. But the sounds of trees overturning and faint, squishing slithering was behind them…

Smoke, still dangling from Blackfire's bare arms, unhitched a revolver from his overalls and started firing off rapid shots into the dim woods below, blindly capping away at the slithering form beneath the treetops. "How do you like THAT? Huh? Come up here and get some!"

Blackfire flinched, the loud gunshots from only a foot away drilling into her eardrums like a jackhammer. "Ugh! How do you keep from going deaf?" She demanded Smoke.

"… What?" He asked, cupping a hand to his ear.

"…. Nevermind…"

Deciding it would be better to regroup before they got separated, Blackfire started a descent, careful to keep a firm grip on Smoke—who, with all his weapons, ammo, and gear, was starting to get heavy, even to her—as she hovered quickly downwards and swooped alongside of the green cheetah.

Terra noticed her immediately and brushed some hair out of her face, shouting: "If we can get back to the house, we'll be all right! We can lock the doors!"

"That…" Blackfire panted. "Or we can get the Hell out of this place!"

The sound of a few loud gunshots ricocheting violently…

"You know…" Smoke said, reloading his revolver and looking back (as Blackfire held him backwards over her shoulder like a sack) at the approaching monstrosity. "Bullet proof innards are really starting, to PISS ME OFF!"

… Terra shook her head and rolled her eyes, before taking a look before them, squinting into the darkness—and she almost yelled out with relief. The rear façade of the house, looming upwards like a ghastly gray blob in the night, was within running distance of them, it's crumbling mortar and dusty windows suddenly a welcome refuge.

"It's right there! Come on!"

… Scarcely had she shouted these words, when something rough and hard grabbed her brutally by the neck and yanked her off Beast Boy's back; she managed a single frightened yelp before she was gone.

B.B. reflexively roared and came to a grinding halt in the muddy soil, right before turning abruptly and looking around. After a moment, he morphed into his normal, humanoid form and looked about wildly, as Blackfire and Smoke stopped beside him.

A long, dripping appendage made of what looked like long, bloodied ropes was wrapped around Terra's form, dragging her through the mud and muck to the open mouth of the beast behind them, having decided to reach out and grab, rather than chase.

Beast Boy, eyes sparking with anger, morphed back into a large cat—a lion this time—and broke into a run; he dashed forward at top speed, and pounced high into the air, arching in a wide swoop, and landing on the tentacle, which he promptly began rending and mauling with tooth and claw. Unable to withstand much of this furious assault, it gave way and crumbled away at the base, resulting in an agonized scream from the monster.

Even detached, it still writhed and kept a firm hold on the struggling Terra. She strained to get out, as Blackfire and Smoke came running up.

"Hold still!" B.B. urged, "So I can untie you…"

"Or, we could cut them off." Smoke said, reaching for his chainsaw, resulting in a wide-eyed stare from Terra and a groan from Blackfire. "… What…?"

B.B. fumbled with the wet coils of the still-squirming appendage, but couldn't get a grip on its slimy, slippery surface. Finally, Blackfire—tired of dillydallying whilst the monster drew ever closer—reached down with a grunt and ripped the appendage apart with her hands, tossing it aside.

Terra gasped for breath as soon as her mouth was uncovered. She smiled weakly and started to thank Blackfire, but… as soon as she looked up, her eyes widened and she screamed wildly, pointing behind her friends. They turned swiftly, only to see the creature in question right behind them, leering downwards upon their comparatively tiny forms.

They backed up fearfully as the creature made a guttural heaving noise and slithered ever so closer, little by little… it seemed they were done for…

……

Without warning a beam of whitish-silver energy zapped through the night, illuminating the wooded area with a flash of light and creating a high-pitched whirring sound. The monster was hit dead on with the beam, and was sent sprawling backwards onto its back as slime gushed forth from its mouth, frothing and bubbling as smoke rose from its head area—where the beam of energy had hit.

They stared, stupefied for a moment… and then looked over.

Cy cocked his arm cannon and grinned. "Need a hand?"

The monster made an attempt to get up, snarling threateningly at Cyborg who simply stood his ground and remained calm, his poker-face rivaling that of Raven.

… Speaking of whom, a large tree—overturned in the creatures writhing—suddenly shimmered with obsidian magic, some arcane force causing it to glow black and levitate into the air; then, it launched itself at high velocity like a giant missile, shattering against the beast's side and sending sharp nettles and pieces of bark everywhere just like shrapnel.

… A pool of darkness, like liquid shadows, formed along the ground and Raven materialized upwards, her blue cloak swirling about her dramatically. "… Careful. You might get a splinter." The words were as monotone as one would have come to expect of her.

"Yeah, Pal…" Zero added, walking in through a clearing with a smile. "You better put some ice on that…here, lemme help…"

_WHOOSH!_

There was a flurry of white snowflakes, and a broad blue freeze ray… within seconds, the monster was a giant block of ice…

… Which was shattered abruptly by a blow from Robin's Bo staff.

… The block crumbled, into bits and shards of ice on the ground; they hissed and melted away into nothing, leaving only the filthy, muddy ground as a testament to the evil that lay in this land.

Robin sighed and looked towards the four dumbstruck friends. "… Come on in and get cleaned up. We're just leaving."

* * *

"Oh, I don't really think so, Old Boy… I rather think you won't be going anywhere, just yet…"

A gravelly chuckle.

"Don't you just hate guests that eat and run? Well… we'll have to teach them some manners…. Won't we, my Precious?"

A hiss…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine._

**_Casa Del Sangre—Part Four_**

"Are you OK, Sugar-Dumplin'? You ain't hurt nowhere else, are you?" Smoke asked concernedly, placing an ice pack—improvised from a plastic bag of water, thanks to Zero—on a lightly bleeding scrape across her bare forearm.

She winced a little at being called, 'Sugar-Dumplin' in public, but didn't comment. "I'm fine… really…" She tried to convince Smoke. "I'm not hurt; I'm just, a little…. Well… very. Very scared…" She said with a sudden shudder.

"I don't blame you." Smoke snorted.

"But you weren't scared…" She protested softly.

"… Well… no… but… I'm never scared…" He said sheepishly. "I just wasn't made that way."

She winced again, this time at the word 'made', though Smoke wasn't sure why. His slight grin faded and, in a more serious tone, he stated: "Uh… how's Terra holdin' up?"

Blackfire was hesitant to answer. She was well aware Terra had come off a lot worse than she from the monster encounter.

"I think… she's all right." Blackfire sighed. "Just, she must have turned her ankle while we were running or something… she was having a hard time walking earlier…"

"She was runnin' fine when that thing was chasing us." Smoke said, cocking his head confusedly.

"You'd be amazed what you don't notice when a fifty foot creature is chasing you." Blackfire said listlessly. "But… she changed to her clothes after a shower, and she's got some ice and bandages on it now… she should be all right."

"Good, Good…" Smoke said, nodding. "…… Hmph. Shoulda never came here…" He grunted. "Seems like it's always somethin'. Hell, I woulda rather taken my chances with the thugs in Jump City."

Blackfire stroked his shoulder through the straps of his overalls, his jacket having been taken off earlier, in an effort to soothe him. "Don't worry about it… we'll be leaving soon, and this'll all be over with." She said with a smile.

He grinned slightly, and started to reply…

… The door slammed open abruptly, cutting them both off mid-conversation.

Both of them looked over, towards the direction it had come from. The door stood open… a dim corridor behind it, and nothing more. It bumped softly against the wall and creaked on its hinges; either the wind had blown it open through a window—unlikely, as there were no windows in that hall—or someone had pushed it open and ran.

… Or… some_thing_…

Blackfire's nails dug into Smoke's arm subconsciously as she cringed, tensely staring at the open door.

There was a pause.

"…" Smoke abruptly yanked his revolvers from his belt and cocked them with a click. "Stay here……" He said, getting up.

She immediately panicked, though she tried to hide it. "Where are you going?" She asked, her voice considerable higher pitched than it had been just a few moments ago…

"I'm going to check it out…" He said with a scowl. "And if somethin's gonna happen… I want it to happen to me, not you…" He said grimly.

Her mouth went dry. She tried to tell him to stop, but no sound came; all she could manage was to jump to her feet and grab his shoulders, shaking her head violently.

He gently sat her back down on the bed and despite a soft whimper and more head shaking, he began to slowly approach the open door, revolvers raised and ready to fire away. "I'll be fine." He assured her with a whisper, then turned back around and continued forward…

He reached the door. … With only a split second's hesitation, he leaned out… and craned his neck in both directions, taking a close look at the surroundings and dim, candlelit hallway…

He jumped slightly when something latched onto his back, but sighed when he realized it was just Blackfire.

"There's nothing here." She urged him. "Please… please, come back…"

He turned to look at her, his face a picture of confusion. "… What's the matter?" He clearly heard the tension and, possibly, fear in her voice. "Are you all right?"

"Look, I… I don't like being by myself right now…" She said shakily. "Please, It was probably just the wind. Come back in here; sit down, talk to me…" She urged, pulling his arm.

There was a moment of silence, and nothing stirred in the dark halls.

Satisfied nothing was amiss, he hugged her and started to agree. "Right… come on, let's go to the kitchen, and I'll get you some—"

**_CLANG_**!

They both wheeled around.

"What was that?" Smoke demanded almost instantly. "Someone's in here, and I know it!"

Before she could stop him, he dashed down the hallway, though he promised to "be right back", before he ran off…

… Blackfire found herself standing alone in a dark corridor, an open door tapping the wall lightly behind her and a row of wall-mounted candelabras flickering in front of her. Everything, after the tapping of Smoke's cowboy boots had faded, was silent…

She began to follow Smoke down the hallway for a moment, but… something within must have faltered, because she began to shiver and stumbled back to the lit room they'd been in, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

**Some Time Later...**

"… Where are you…?" Smoke grunted.

… The young gun walked slowly between double rows of armor-suits, lined up on either side of a long, dark hallway lined with abstract portraits and dim candles… he could almost sense the presence of another… he knew someone was in here, beyond all doubt.

… A metallic rattle, an echoing thump…

Smoke raised his revolver, aiming with almost surgical precision in the angle from which the noise had come. "Who's there?"

… No response.

He began stomping in the general direction, slowly scowling at the suits of armor and pointing his revolver at the helmet area of each in turn. "Let's see… eenie… meenie… miney… moe…" A click, the cocking of the revolver… "… Which of these.. is first… to go…?"

**BLAM**!

With a smug smirk, he fired a revolver with a spray of sparks and a lightning fast bullet, and blew the head area—and half the chest—of the armor into a smoldering lump of coal-like ashes.

"You might as well come out with your hands up!" He barked roughly.

Behind him, one of the suits started shaking wildly, rattling with metallic crashes and bangs.

…….

… Instantly, Smoke was upon it, ripping it apart in seconds with brute force, and grappling the neck of an unlucky form within it. Smoke grinned in triumph—but then blanched, utterly stupefied…

"_ACK_! P-please don't kill me! I didn't mean any ha—huh…? Smoke…?"

… Smoke stared dumbly for a moment, before dropping the monocled shape he'd grabbed. "… Wha…? Ghost! The Hell are you doing?" Smoke demanded, grabbing his chest. "You know you almost gave Blackfire a heart attack! Why are you beatin' and bangin' around in here?"

Ghost gulped and adjusted his monocle. "I… I was merely searching for Raven. She… she went… to see T-T-Terra… and B-Beast Boy… and hasn't r-r-returned, y-yet!" He stammered. "She's been gone almost an hour, and, I… I hate staying in that room by myself!"

… The reference to staying in a room alone, made him groan with realization. He'd left Blackfire back there by herself after she'd all but begged him not to. He could have slapped himself, even though it'd been in her interest he'd wanted to make sure no one… unwanted… was here…

He jogged himself from the thought. "Ok… Calm down, just… chill. I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Come on, let's go back where Blackfire is; maybe she's seen Raven…"

* * *

"I assure you, he is alive and unharmed, Sister." Star tried to calm Blackfire. "If he had met with any trouble along his way, I feel certain this house would echo with the reports of small and large arms fire by now." She said with a cheerfulness that rendered the subject matter superfluous.

This well-intentioned comment, however, didn't do much to alleviate the shakiness of Blackfire's hands as she took a long sip of the tea that Raven had brought her.

"You said there was a noise?" Said the sorceress, also with Blackfire—along with Terra and B.B., the former of whom was sitting down with a bandage around one ankle and the latter, who was a bit bruised up but otherwise unharmed.

"Y-yes… the door slammed open while we were talking… nobody was there… and then, there was a big noise in the Hall. He ran to see what it was, and never came back…."

"You mean, he hasn't come back yet." Terra corrected gently, trying to ease her friend's worry somewhat.

"…… I'm worried about you, rather than Smoke." Raven said lowly, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes shone slightly, reflective in the dim room. "You've been… kinda freaked out, ever since that thing attacked…" A pause.

Blackfire sighed and shook her head. "I'm ok… It's just…" She suddenly brought her fist up and then, slammed it back down onto the floor, causing the room itself to tremble, and shaking several crumblings of loose plaster off of the ceiling.

"**_X'hal_**!" She swore abruptly. "I wish that… that stupid…" She seemed to struggle for a term low enough. "… **BOY**, would listen to me!" She spat, eyes crackling. "This is the second time tonight he could be off somewhere risking his neck needlessly! I mean, at this rate, I'll never get a moment's pea—"

Raven, the only one who wasn't cowering at the moment, decided to nip Black's angry tirade in the bud before she could REALLY get started…

"Hey Beast Boy…" The sorceress started uncertainly, cutting of the fuming Tamaranean. "Um… has Cyborg said how long it is before we can get out of this place…?"

"… Mammoth and Zero are helping him load our stuff, Robin is making sure we're not forgetting anything, and Jinx is… well… I dunno… I guess she's just following Zero's around, making sure he's OK." The green shapeshifter explained with a sheepish grin, exposing a single small fang. "My guess is we'll be able to leave before much longer; least, I really… REALLY… hope so…"

Terra's head rose and she cocked it curiously. "Huh? Did something happen to Zero?"

Beast Boy suddenly found all eyes on him, and sweatdropped. "Uh… well… see, I'm not really—"

Star interrupted him suddenly, breaking in with a near-hysterical voice. "Is he all right? Is he unharmed? Oh, I think I should die if anything else horrible happens tonight!" She moaned. "Please, tell me friend Zero is safe!"

"He's fine, he's fine; Chill!" Beast Boy insisted, patting Star's hand. There was already one overwrought alien in the room; another was not needed… "But… see……" An awkward pause. "… Something… freaked him out…"

… No one was quite sure how to respond to this odd statement.

"… Like…?" Raven persisted softly, her voice deep and slightly irritated. "Elaborate, please."

"That's it; I don't know! I don't even think Zero has told HER yet, but…… at some point during the night—before that giant… Thing… attacked… he went outside to get some stuff out of Smoke's truck, y'know? And… he came back in…." A beat. "He was shaking, and pale—well, more so than normal—and he wouldn't talk, just seemed to want to curl up and go to sleep… it was weird, Dudes…" He shook his head. "So I think Jinx is really, really worried about him."

Blackfire, her focus shifted slightly from Smoke's absence, shook her head with a slight shudder. "…. What… would be bad enough to freak Zero out like that? I mean, he's been swallowed by a 200-foot skeletal dragon. After that, it's all kinda downhill, don'tcha think…?"

"I dunno." B.B. sighed. "All I know is this: I want out of this place, A.S.A.P.!"

"Amen to that." A voice suddenly broke in from behind them… deep, slightly hoarse, and rumbling good-naturedly. They turned with a start, a collective gasp issuing forth from the group.

… There stood Mammoth in the doorway, looking a little bad-off for lack-of-sleep, but still much like his usual self.

"The Bossman—Robin, that is—told me to tell y'all we're ready. We can go whenever you're set." He turned and looked at a dusty old grandfather clock on the wall. "… Personally, I'm ready to leave now. So hurry it up, will ya?"

* * *

"Awww, come ON! You can build a fraggin' supercomputer control network for the Tower, but you can't get a stupid **CAR** to start?" Gizmo screeched frustratedly at Cy, who was muttering darkly under his breath.

"I'm Tellin' you…! I don't get what the problem is! They were workin' fine earlier tonight; they're in good shape; full tanks of gas on both, no oil change needed, and… headlights, speedometer, the works: It's all in proper operatin' order." Cy snapped. "I Just don't see the damn problem!"

Regardless, the two vehicles had been fully loaded with everyone's luggage and things; it was done… but even the combined ingenuity of Cyborg and Gizmo—with the assistance of Jinx, Robin and Zero (Mammoth had gone to see the others)—still had not been enough to get the things to work.

… And they were, as though not in a hurry enough, in a race against nature; the already dimmed night sky was beginning to grow milky and obscured with foggy storm clouds and flickering moonbeams… a rainstorm was on the way. It was going to get here very, very, very soon….

Robin's masked gaze squinted through the dark at his friends. "Guys… I know you're… under a lot of pressure and all right now, but……" Thunder crashed softly in the distance, though there was no flash of lightning or deluge of cold rain to accompany it… "… We kinda need to hurry… bad weather's getting closer all the time, and I… No, We… REALLY… don't need to spend any more time out here, at all…"

Cyborg started to reply grimly, but was cut off when the front doors of the huge house opened and Mammoth stuck his shaggy head outside of them. "Hey, guys!" He bellowed loud enough to get their attention. "We're gonna be a sec…! Smoke's dumb ass went off chasin' rats, and Ghost is hidin' someplace… we gotta find them before we can go…"

"Take your time." Robin groaned, fed up with the situation. "Looks like we won't be going anywhere for a short while anyway…"

Mammoth nodded and left to go help search for the previously mentioned pair of bunglers; with the sound of shutting doors, he was gone.

Robin… after a moment of tense silence… scratched the side of his head thoughtfully. "… What did he mean, 'chasing rats'…?"

"So they're _both_ missin'?" Cy asked, grinning despite his foul mood. "Well… in that case, I'd say… more like chasin' bats!"

* * *

"……." Smoke froze in place, willing himself to take another step, but held to the spot by a paralyzing numbness.

Ghost blinked. "I say…. What's Wrong with you?"

… There in the middle of the floor that stood between them and the next room, sat a fat, slimy brown cockroach; wriggling its antennae and jerking erratically as it scuttled along the tile floors, clicking and hissing.

"Uh… y-you… first…" Smoke said, suddenly sidestepping and placing himself behind Ghost, who stared perplexed behind his monocle.

"Uh… Um… thanks… I guess…" Ghost stuttered. "… Wait… Is something the matter…?"

He seemed oblivious of the huge bug's presence.

"N-no… f-fine, just…" Smoke gulped. "Just go!" He shoved Ghost roughly into the room.

Ghost shrugged and strode across the floor to the next doorway… and paused when the bug wriggled and hissed by his foot. Although he gasped and flinched back at first, he sighed with relief seeing it was only a little roach.

"Just a bug…" He murmured to himself. "Shoo!" He said, brushing it out of the room with his sandals. "Shoo…!"

In his rush, he accidentally knocked it slightly over towards Smoke…

Within seconds, the gunman had uttered an incredulously feminine squeak and had leapt onto a large wooden chair on one leg, brandishing a revolver wildly.

"What the—" Ghost froze, staring. "… What on Earth are you doing?"

"Are you crazy?" Smoke yelped. "Get that thing away from me!"

Ghost blinked… looked at the bug on the floor… looked at Smoke on the chair… at the bug… at Smoke… at the bug… at Smoke…

And covered his mouth as he attempted to stifle a fit of chuckles.

Smoke looked as though he couldn't decide to shoot at the bug or shoot at Ghost, as he fumed wildly; Sparks of yellow-green electricity flew in clouds from his eyes and fingertips as static crackled in his spiky hair. "The Hell are you laughin' at?" He demanded, balling a sparking fist in a threatening manner.

"N-nothing." Ghost said with a wry smile. "Just… didn't know you loathed insects that much." With that, he picked up the writhing bug and tossed it out a nearby window; it scuttled off into the night, and it disappeared.

"…" Smoke looked as though he'd like to respond, but apparently, he couldn't think of anything whatsoever—or was simply too flustered to do so. He just humphed and gritted his teeth, walking roughly beside Ghost and through to the next room.

Ghost stood there for a moment, feeling deeply guilty for that chortling he'd let slip a moment ago. … After all, someone who was scared of the dark at age sixteen—for that's how old Ghost was—certainly had little room to laugh at someone for being freaked out by bugs…

After a few seconds of hesitation and careful consideration of his wording, he jogged forward and quickly caught up with Smoke. He opened his mouth once, but blanched and no sound came out. He took a deep breath… and opened it a second time; he then managed to find his voice, shaky though it was.

"Erm… Smoke…"

"Yeah?" Said pyromaniac grunted, giving the ninja a withering glare.

"I should probably—um, that is, I'd like to… er… apologize… so…" He paused with a gulp. "… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed."

Smoke stopped and turned, looking at him oddly. "…. Why?"

Ghost shifted uncomfortably, and realized for the first time his short stature compared to Smoke. "Uh-um… well… I mean, it's really not a terribly important matter, that you're frightened of bugs, and—"

"I ain't scared." Smoke growled gruffly. "Just… d-don't… like 'em…"

Considering Smoke's track-record for honesty—such as it was—and the uncharacteristic quivering of his voice, it quickly became perfectly clear that the young gunman was lying through his teeth. He was terrified of bugs, and he knew it as well as Ghost did. The ninja decided not to comment…

"Well…. I'm just… sorry I laughed, is all." He finished up sheepishly.

"…… _Grrr_…" Smoke proceeded promptly to mutter something incoherent, gnashing his teeth grouchily has he did so.

"……" Ghost flinched slightly. "Erm… d-d-didn't… quite get that…" he said with a strained smile, actually fearing for his safety at this point.

Smoke wheeled around and glowered at him, prompting a cower, but his glare softened somewhat after a moment and he shrugged his wiry shoulders. "… S'no big deal." Smoke murmured. "… C'mon… the others ought to be right up this way… and if I know Blackfire, she's gonna kill me…"

* * *

**_A Little Bit Later._**

Sure enough, when Smoke opened up the door to the room he figured they were in, there they were: Everyone—save for Robin, Jinx, Zero, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Cyborg, who were all outside—was gathered in the room, waiting tensely for the vehicles to start… an endeavor that Cyborg and Gizmo had not, I'm sorry to say, had much luck in.

… And also par for his predictions, he also found himself tackled to the floor very quickly.

"Where have you _been_?" Blackfire screeched. "Do you have any idea how worried we've bee—"

Before she could finish her rant, and before Smoke could think up a good excuse, he was saved, so to speak, by Ghost, who immediately warped over to Raven with a poof of dark smoke, reappearing in front of her with a relieved smile on his face. "Raven! You're all right."

She blinked and raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Of course. I've been here the whole time… where did you think I was?"

"I don't know!" he said. "… You went to see Beast Boy and Terra…" He gulped audibly. "But, you were gone so long, I… was starting to worry…"

"I thought you were still up in the room…" Raven said, suddenly appearing cross. "… You haven't been wandering around, have you?"

Ghost shifted uncomfortably in his sandals and avoided her gaze somewhat. "Well… I mean…" He trailed off hesitantly. "You'd been gone so long, and… it was eerie up there by myself… so… I… I, um…"

"Came looking for me." Raven finished, exasperatedly; it was not a question.

Ghost nodded with an embarrassed smile.

… The tense, awkward silence of the moment was broken by Smoke's labored grunt. "Uh… Listen… Blackfire... could ya get off? I'm havin' a hard time breathin'…"

She flinched, remembering that she was on top of Smoke, hand poised half-raised in the air with palm facing down in slapping position. But by this time, her anger had alleviated somewhat, and so, she sighed heavily and hugged his neck instead, grateful to see him unharmed.

"Where have you been?" She asked for the second time. "…. What… what were those noises?"

"Just Ghost." Smoke said absent-mindedly… "… Uh… you ain't mad, are you?" He asked hopefully.

She shook her head, and raised her hand with her index finger and thumb a tiny space a part to signify a 'little bit.' "… Well… I was, a little… but… I'm glad you're all right. Just, Please don't run off alone like that. If another… monster or something… had come out…"

"I woulda shot it." Smoke said simply. Blackfire moaned and slapped her forehead. It was exactly that sort of trigger-happy, nonchalant, I'm-invincible attitude that worried her so. But she didn't say anything more…

Beast Boy cleared his throat, as though to get everybody's attention. When all gazes turned to him, he jerked his gloved thumb towards the front doors and stated: "Uh… Since everyone's here, now… Shouldn't we like… leave…?"

"If they've managed to get the vehicles to work." Terra added. "Geeze… what a rotten place to have them start screwing up."

"All the same, I think we ought to go check…"

* * *

Cyborg knew something was amiss… as he wiped the sweat from his half-metal brow, and sighed with exhaustion, he felt a presence…. Something that shouldn't have been there. A cold chill ran down his back, despite its mechanical composition…

He looked over… there stood Gizmo, still peering under the hood of Smoke's truck and murmuring grouchily… Robin and Jinx were talking while Mammoth lifted up the back end of the T-Car so that Zero could peer underneath and make sure nothing was busted or broken, which it didn't seem to be at all….

Cyborg shook his head and sighed. Everything seemed to be fine—well… all things considered, pretty good, at least—but… he had a feeling of foreboding welling up within him and couldn't quite put his robotic finger on why he had it.

"If nothing else…" Robin said softly, nodding. "We can call Titans East, via communicator. They can pick us up and get us back to the Tower…"

"But I still don't get it… they were working when we got here and on the way!" Jinx said, motioning to the vehicles parked out front. "I mean… how on Earth did they break down in a couple hours' time?"

A crash of thunder, and a flash; lightning lit the sky as nature's bellicose rumble filled the air…

"I don't know." Robin said miserably. "… I just… don't… know…"

… There was suddenly a tapping sound, followed almost immediately by a few more. As each present felt a tiny splash on his or her head, they all looked up, realizing the rain was starting…

"Come on… everybody back in the house…" Robin said grimly. "We don't need anyone catching pneumonia."

As he turned, the others began to follow him…

The pitter-pattering of raindrops grew into multitudes, forming one collective hiss as the dripping became a deluge, pouring down rain onto the unlucky Teens, all of whom went running towards the front door of the house, or, at least, to the roofed façade above, which would keep them out of the rain.

Cyborg was the last to start moving, and as he turned to look, he noticed… a change, though he couldn't say what…

The lightning flashed, and he saw it clearly. The T-Car, as well as Desperado, were both just a bit farther up… weren't they…? They had been parked a bit back… farther back than this…

… Cyborg shook his head with a grumble, dismissing it as imagination and started walking to catch up to the others…

_… Vrrooom… vrum, vrum… Vroooooum!_

Cyborg froze. He turned slowly.

… And realized he was suddenly looking into a pair of headlights that was growing rapidly closer. He yelled aloud hoarsely, and acted on instinct; with a single leap, he flew through the air and rolled on the muddy swampland ground, clearing the space where he'd nearly been run down. He gasped, and scrambled to his feet, wild-eyed.

… The T-Car was moving. He could vaguely hear Robin's alarmed shout and a scream from Jinx as it raced towards them; Robin turned and ran, as Mammoth—in seconds—lifted Zero, Gizmo, and Jinx onto his shoulders like sacks, and began dashing at startling speed towards the door…

* * *

"…!" Starfire's head snapped up. "Does… anyone else… hear a strange sound…?" She asked hesitantly.

… No one replied, but rather, they simply gazed upon her with surpise.

After a moment, Smoke and B.B.—the two with the sharpest hearing of the group—perked their ears, and listened.

"I hear… something…" Smoke grunted. "… What about you, B.B.?"

"…" The shape shifter paused. "Yeah… yeah… same here… but… can't tell what it is." Suddenly… his eyes widened… "Wait a minute, sounds… like… an engine…?"

"A car…" Smoke clarified.

"You think they finally got them cranked?" Terra asked hopefully, ready to leave as soon as humanly possible.

Before anyone could answer, the optimism of the moment was shattered.

The door was yanked open with a deafening crash, as Robin ran in panickedly, beckoning in Mammoth, who stooped quickly under the doorframe and dropped Zero, Gizmo, and Jinx roughly on the ground; Robin slammed the door behind them.

"Go! GO! EVERYBODY GET **BACK**!" Robin yelled, running towards the rear of the room, and diving behind a couch. "Get down!"

… The room exploded in a blinding light and the walls crumbled, the roar of shattering plaster and rough cast mingling with the tinkle of crackling glass and the moan of bending metals; sparks and a few jets of flame lit the room; Starfire and Terra could be heard to scream vaguely over the sound of chaos. Chairs went flying to the rear of the room as the T-Car's front hood, as though in slow motion, penetrated the front wall of the house, grinding with a hideous screech and rushing with lethal speed at the unprepared Titans…

… As quickly as it had come, it was over…

There was only the sound of smoke and sizzling, the room slowly coming apart at the front, where the car had crashed violently.

……. Robin and Beast Boy were the first to crawl upwards from the ground… slowly, shakily, and staring at the T-Car—virtually unscathed due to its armor—sitting there with headlights on, halfway through the wall of the house with sparks and shattered glass and mortar falling slowly through the air like raindrops…

"……" Blackfire rose next, breathing heavily with rapid gasps, and looking as though on the verge of a panic attack. Smoke pulled himself up, yanking a leg from under a wooden beam that had been sent flying in the blast… he stumbled over to her, and leaned onto her shoulder, both of them staring silently at the wreckage…

A chunk of the wall gave out and Cyborg stumbled in, panting. "Is everybody OK?" He hollered.

Starfire was just helping Terra up, her already sore ankle probably having been made that much more so by the fact she'd been sent flying into the back wall… thankfully, she seemed fairly unharmed save that ankle and a small bleeding scrape along the forehead, covered mostly by her hair…

Jinx and Zero clung to each other, but both of them were little more than freaked out, not actually injured. They nodded silently their assent that they were unharmed.

"Ghost…? Ghost!" An alarmed voice pierced the silence; it was Raven. She was digging through a small pile of dust and debris in the far corner of the room behind an overturned armchair… she desperately shoved handfuls of junk away, finally gasping from relief when she found Ghost lying still underneath.

Almost instantly, Zero and Robin had rushed over, to help her lift him up…

As Gizmo tottered upright a few feet away with a groan, and Mammoth helped up some of the others, Robin pulled away Ghost's sleeve and put a finger to his dark skin whilst Zero lifted him and placed him on the armchair, which he had righted.

… A distinct beating was felt in his flesh, and he was warm; thus, he had a pulse. Soft, shaking breaths wafted from his open mouth.

Raven, relieved he was all right but still worried, immediately tried to wake him as Robin went over to try to soothe Starfire—who was now in hysteric tears, as opposed to her sister who was simply stunned into silence—and Zero went to go inspect the T-Car with Cyborg. After a moment, it became apparent to Raven that, because there was no injury or mark of harm on Ghost… he must have, thankfully, simply passed out from fright at the sudden catastrophe.

"… Giz! You all right?" Mammoth said, picking up his runty friend in one hand and staring at him concernedly.

Said genius spat a few pieces of gravel and stone from his mouth and glared. "I'd be better, if you.. oh say… PUT ME DOWN!"

"Whatever you say." Mammoth grunted, plopping him back down on the ground.

"Hey!" Robin yelled, getting the group's attention. "… Look… is anyone hurt? I mean, is everybody Ok?"

There was a general murmur to the affirmative.

"Good. Then we—"

He was cut off by a shrill creak. The boy wonder, falling silent suddenly, turned towards the source of the soft noise.

… The door to the driver's side of the T-Car had swung open.

There was a moment of stunned silence. Eventually, Robin began walking forward…

There on the seat, inexplicably placed, was an envelope of heavy parchment sealed formally, much similar—if not identical—to the first note Robin had received from… Thorne…

Thorne… that name… who was he, and what did he want…?

As though by reflex, he grabbed the note of the seat and drew his hand back abruptly, as though afraid the car door might slam on his arm or something… he slowly paced backwards… and began opening it up…

He read the enclosed letter softly to himself; it was written in the same scrawled, but loopy and fancy handwriting… in red ink…

'_No use trying, I'm afraid. Kitchen is in rear of first floor; take the left-most hallway from the grand foyer and proceed towards the end. Bedrooms, as you know, are upstairs. You cannot leave the house. Do not attempt to escape; you will regret it. Give my regards to young ladies that had a fright with my pet; do hope they'll be all right. Enjoy your stay..._

_Cheers, --E. Thorne'_

… The letter and envelope both fell to the dusty carpet with a barely audible tap… lightning crashed in the background, lighting up Robin's grim face as he lifted his visage towards his friends.

"… Everybody get to the foyer. We need to talk." He stated calmly, but with suppressed urgency. "… I don't think we're leaving just yet."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


End file.
